Transcendentalists-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Below is an except from Emerson's essay "Nature"
"To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, -- he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight. Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, -- master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature."


Reflection: In the essay “Nature” Emerson mentions the tranquility and power of nature. He talks about how nature is able to bring out the innocent and youth in a person and how nature can give one a sense of awe and reverence rarely found elsewhere. I find this statement to be true and I feel that nature has an amazing power to make one experience a certain nostalgia or joy felt when one was a child first experiencing the many wonders of nature. I for one am reminded of a past experience in nature that really made me start to respect the purity of the land. It was quite recent actually. It was a sunny saturday morning during the afternoon and there were white clouds in the sky and I decided it would be nice to just lay down in the grass in my back yard and listen. I lay there for a little over an hour and it was such a relaxing experience just listening to my surrounding and observing the nature around me. I was very relaxed and renewed through this experience. Emerson really is able to capture the spiritual sense of nature and I love how he describes it. He describes it just right, the way nature can bring joy even in hard times and how when one is alone then one establishes a real sense of unity with the land.

Dear Diary,
Last week I happened to come across an essay by a Mr. Ralph Emerson and a certain section caught my eye. In this section, labeled Nature, Mr. Emerson talked about humans relationship with nature and how nature is so powerful that it can stir up memories of youth and feelings of happiness no matter what hardsips one is experiencing. His style of writing was so moving that i chose to set aside some time today to just go out into nature and truly experience it and I'm very happy that I did. Once I was out there in a little clearing about half a mile from town I simply sat down and watched my surroundings. I was reminded of me as a youth running through these woods with my friends, learning the names of the different plants and animals. I noticed many animals passing by my in the woods and I was just filled with a sense of peace. Emerson was completely right about nature and its power. I left that clearing feeling renewed and ready to face the world. I only hope I have time to do it again soon.
Until next time,
Matthew


Below is an excerpt on Self Reliance from Emerson's essay:
"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark. "

Reflection: I feel that this section is very moving. Emerson is telling people to be true to themselves and their dreams and to trust themselves. He says that immitation is suicide or in other words that we shouldn't mimic someone else because then we are killing who we really are and are merely conforming to what we expect society wants us to be. By standing for what we believe and not conforming to society we are able to grow and to work fully towards something great instead of merely performing a minor task in order to keep the system running. We must love ourselves and trust ourselves to be able to accomplish great things in order for us to be able to grow out of the mold society has made for us.

Dear Diary,
You know how I read Emerson's essay last week right? Well today I read another section of it. This section was a bit more direct and stirred up some controvertial feelings in me. He was saying that we need to step out of our mold and to work towards what we believe in instead of assimilating with society. He mentioned how these people are true men who go off to battle Chaos and the Dark. My friends and I are so inspired by this passage we each decided to work towards a goal we had put off because of some excuse. So I am working towards getting my own place somewhere out in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. I have always enjoyed the scenery out there and I've been looking forward to this for a long time. however, I must first earn enough money to buy a house out there so on that note I have to go to work.
Until next time,
Matthew